Smart to think highly of Warriors

Hate to be Debbie Downer in regard to the Warriors‘ 5-0 road trip, but if you read the fine print in the Mayan calendar, you’ll see they called this shot: “Warriors beat Heat, world explodes.”

Too bad, it would have been fun to see where the Warriors would take this new thing they’ve got going.

Until the hammer comes down, though, the Warriors are the team to watch. They are carrying out a recent phenomenon in Bay Area sports: a team seemingly playing way over its head, powered by a mysterious force that falls into the category of “team spirit.” Like:

— The A’s: The over-performing team of the year. A million rookies and a dazzling ensemble performance for the team from nowhere.

— The Giants: Yes, a well-regarded team with great pitching, but the way they brought it all together at the end was shocking.

— The 49ers: This Super Bowl contender is built with many of the same players from the team that looked so raggedy two seasons ago, Alex Smith (before benching), Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Joe Staley … And yet, they have a different vibe, no?

The Warriors have a ways to go before they belong in that group, but they’ve definitely tapped into the spirit of those other local teams, and Wednesday’s win in Miami was a pretty big statement.

Where did this come from? Sports Illustrated, in its preseason issue, had this analysis from an anonymous NBA scout: “This is a bad team with an unproven coach and a poor mix of players. All of them are overrated, with the exception maybe of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.”

But the Warriors flipped a switch, maybe in training camp. They certainly didn’t sneak up on the Heat, whose pregame comments showed respect for the Warriors.

The Heat geared up, properly, to stop Curry, because the best place to step on a snake is its head. They trapped Curry, applied heavy pressure, like they did last season when they put a dramatic and ugly end to Linsanity by smothering the Knicks’ Jeremy Lin.

But the Knicks didn’t have Thompson, who took advantage of the attention on Curry to rain open three-pointers. At the end, the Heat got smart. On the game’s deciding play, Thompson got a baseline screen from Draymond Green and popped into the right corner, but Shane Battier, guarding Green, popped out to double Thompson, cutting off the Warriors’ plan. Smart defense.

Ah, but Green read the switch and cut to the hoop, where Jarrett Jack found him with a pass for the winning basket. By the way, LeBron James, thanks for the less-than-aggressive defense on Jack.

A lot has been said recently about how smart the rookie Green is. There you saw it. A lot of players don’t read that play and make that quick move to the hoop.

And that play, Jack said, that was called by head coach Mark Jackson, who, remember, isn’t supposed to be an X’s-and-O’s man.

One reason the Warriors are playing so well is that they’re a smart team. There was a reason Jack and Green, non-starters, were in the game at the end. With David Lee, Thompson, Curry and Carl Landry, this might be the Warriors’ smartest team since Run TMC.

Even the front office is looking smart. Last season, it traded its most spectacular player, Monta Ellis, for a player to be suited up later. If Ellis is on this team, the Warriors are not 5-0 on the trip.

Imagine if the Warriors had a center. Festus Ezeli had zero points Wednesday in 14 minutes. Andris Biedrins didn’t get off the bench, which might have been Jackson’s smartest coaching move of the night.

The Warriors did it Nellie-style, with little guys like Lee and Landry playing the post. (Don Nelson always thought Lee should be a center.)

At some point, the Warriors are going to need a center. You can’t compete against good teams for a whole season when you’re getting zero offense and not much rebounding from your center.

It will be up to the players and Jackson to blend Bogut into the mix, and that’s when the high collective IQ will come in handy.

What the A’s, Giants, 49ers, Stanford and Warriors have in common is smart, cool leadership and intelligent players. Remember Sergio Romo’s last pitch? Bob Melvin’s chess moves? The pass play that beat the Saints in January?